


Tales of our Games

by Antares10



Series: The Game of Our Life [7]
Category: Homestuck, Super Mario & Related Fandoms
Genre: Fun with different timelines, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Possession, Luigi hates gender rolls, Luigi struggels with memories, Mario has a temper, Memories of different games, Missing Scene, Multi, Nightmares, Sburb is NOT a nice game, Taggs will be updated as the story goes on, The game messed all of them up, They are trying, Violence, but things get better, crossdressing in non-sexual context, highschool, homophobic/transphobic slurs, life can be unfair, making choices, suffocating, temporaly character death, things went wrong, timetravel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-08
Updated: 2015-11-24
Packaged: 2018-04-30 15:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5169698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antares10/pseuds/Antares10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Different Oneshorts, different settings. Some are missing scenes from the last Game that was played. Some are memories and dreams of games that could have been or once were, some are scenes from past lifes. </p><p>This are Tales of Games they have, had, will have, could have have and everything between.</p><p>Tags and warnings will be updated along with the story itself. </p><p>1.) Marios meeting with Sol - just what was HIS choice?<br/>2.) Nightmares from other timelines - Things went wrong sometimes<br/>3.) Highschool Timeline - how Mario found out about the dresses + the Incident</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Memories of the Game - Meeting with Sol

**Author's Note:**

> So, here is it now: The series of little oneshorts. Some of them will be set in the "main universe" the one we followed up until now. Some will play in now long-gone universes. Some are pretty light-hearted, some of them will be pretty dark (remember: Sburb is NOT a nice game and there are doomed sessions and timelines.)  
> I hope you all have fun with them.  
> And as always: So many thanks to Pandir, the best there is.

“ _I didn't know you faced Sol, Mario.”_

 

“ _I did.”, Mario said, sighing. “It wasn't fun, but... from what I heard I got away easy compared to you. My choice wasn't that hard... only accepting that my part isn't as big as my title implies.”_

 

 

Sol was one of the most impressive sights Mario has ever seen. They were an giant entity, made out of sharp, cold light and most of it was impossible for Marios brain to process. But he could see their thousands of limps, all of them ending in something like fine, golden claws. Perfect for doing delicate work with them.  


Or ripping Mario to shreds in seconds, he thought, not without some discomfort.  


Other than that he noticed a thick chain that was wrapped around the whole “body” of his denizen. It looked a bit strange, seeming as if somebody had tried to chain light itself. Sol themself didn't seem to notice the chains much, their limps where moving freely and not hindered at all.   


And even though Mario couldn't see their eyes, he was sure that Sol was looking at him.  


“Well, look at this.”, a voice echoing trough the room said. “It's been a while since somebody came here to see me. A little short for a hero. And a little too green to be a god, huh?”   


“I am here for the choice.”, Mario said, not really wanting to deal with the words of the denizen.  


“Ah, yes. The CHOICE. I was wondering when you would show up. Nyx practically radiates smug now that the hero of heart had made his.”  


Mario was a bit surprised hearing that.  


“I didn't know that you denizen could... communicate with each other.”  


“One has to keep up.”, said Sol and Mario got the feeling that the denizen was laughing at him. “But that is not the point here. The point is the CHOICE. So I will give you one.”   


Golden light was forming in front of them and was getting solid. Mario was nearly blinded by the brightness of it but finally, the light faded away, leaving a golden pocket watch between human and denizen behind.  


“What is that?”, asked Mario.  


“THIS is my masterpiece. My greatest work.”, Sol explained. “A watch that allows one trip to the past. You have a choice, little heir of time. You can use this device to travel at any point to the past and change one thing. I am aware that time travel is not your strong point in this game.”  


Mario got a bit red at that. Yes, he hadn't mastered the travel through time, a feat that was commonly expected from the time players. But he just couldn't. Speed things up, slow things down, let time do a little hop and so on, but no actual travelling through it.   


“I could... change anything?”, Mario asked.  


“Yes. But only one thing.”, said Sol. “This watch has only energy for one trip and back and the change can only be one thing.”  


Mario looked at the watch and thought. The first thing that came to his mind was to prevent all of this. Travel back in time and prevent the game from happening but how could he do that? He didn't even know how or when the game was truly started, seeing that the meteors were coming at them before they even started playing.    


His next thought was to prevent other things. Prevent Bowser from ever getting to be the King of the Koopas. Or he could just prevent the kidnappings. Or the instances he himself was in trouble or kidnapped. Or the thing with his trip to space.

Or back to the whole mess that was the chaos heart incident, what would he have given to prevent that. But again, how and when could he have done anything?   


He could prevent Luigi from ever becoming part of this whole adventure, prevent the wounds and the trauma, but... he could also prevent the whole mansion thing, maybe? Or the incident with the dream stone. Or... or...   


There were so many things... And only one choice.  


“I... can only change one thing, can't I?”, Mario asked.  


“Yes. Only one thing.”  


Mario looked at the watch. Looked at his hands. Still white gloves, still the same as always. But he could see were they were getting a bit thin from using his hammer so much. And he looked up to Sol, looking at the gold and cold light and the chain wrapped around all of that.  


“It must have taken you a long time to make this watch.”  


“Yes, it has.”, Sol said.  


Mario couldn't tell if there was sadness in Sol's voice or not. Maybe he had just imagined that, but...   


“I think I know what I want to change.”  


“Very good, little heir. To which point of time do you want to return?”  


Mario looked up to his denizen again. He made his choice. No backing down now.  


“I want you to take me to the time where the chain was formed.”, he said, pointing to Sol's chain.   


There was silence for a while. And then Sol laughed.  


“Are you sure? You really want that? Out of all the places and times, you want to go where my CHAIN is formed?”  


“Yes.”, said Mario. “I want exactly that.”  


“WHY?”  


“I want to free you.”, said Mario, a bit smiling. “So you can search for them.”  


Sol was silent for a while and Mario got the feeling that they were staring at him. But they didn't ask what he meant with “them”, so they knew that Mario knew.   


“Very well, you made your choice.”, Sol said and a golden light engulfed them.  


It wasn't the first time Mario went back in time. But he wished that his brother was at his side like last time.

The temple of Sol hadn't changed much but it felt empty and dark without Sol in it. Mario was a bit confused by that. He had asked for the time where the chains were created, shouldn't Sol be here?  


His question was answered a second (well, more like 3,52 seconds) later. There was a deafening shriek and a wail unlike anything Mario ever heard and something BIG crashed trough the roof of the temple. Something made out of golden light.  


It was Sol and they were screaming. First in a language Mario didn't understand and with something he couldn't comprehend. But then something changed. 

There were no words, no literal sense in the noise that Sol made but Mario began to understand the emotion behind it.   


Grief. Soul-crushing grief.  


The guardian of the sun must just have died.  


“Sol?”, asked Mario after a while and the denizen turned towards him.  


“WHO DARES TO ENTER MY DOMAIN?”  


“It's... me.”, Mario said, looking up to his denizen.  


Somehow, he wasn't sure how, Sol didn't seem to be this big anymore. Well, physically they were just as incomprehend-able as before, but... their presence seemed much, much... smaller.   


Mortal.  


“It's me, Mario.”, Mario said, looking up.  


Sol just stared at him, maybe a bit stunned by his words. Whatever Sol had expected him to say, this wasn't it. Maybe they didn't even understand him, seeing as Mario had introduced himself only with his name, not with his title. But somehow, it didn't seem important what he was anymore. Not that it had ever mattered to begin with.  


Hero of time, what a joke. He wasn't any more or less than he ever was, wasn't he?  


“Why are you here?”  


The words seemed to fade into the silence. Mario kept on listening. Surely, it had to happen any minute... any second now.    


There was some faint noise coming from the outside. Shouting and something else. Something sounding just like a shrill laughter, mixed into shreaking and howling.  


“They are both not here anymore, aren't they?”, asked Mario. “Are they really dead?”  


“I... don't know.”  


“I think I know.”, Mario said, looking at Sol. “The Guardian of the Moon and the Guardian of the Sun... I think both of them are still out there. And I think that you will know, too. Otherwise there wouldn't be a chain in the future holding you back. There would be no point.”  


“What are you talking about?”  


Mario smiled. Time ticked. He felt the seconds. He could hear the noises from the outside gaining strength.  


“The Guardian of the Moon is alive. Not dead, just out there. And the Guardian of the Sun is still alive too.”, he looked at Sol. “Inside you. You are the Sun. You hid yourself, you turned into something different, but you are still what you are, aren't you? They are the Guardian of you and so a part of you and you a part of them.”  


_Tick, Tock, little plumbers. Time to teach somebody some lessons for the future and the past. And time is running out. Tick. Tock. Tick._ _  
_

And the clock stuck zero and chains raised themselves like snakes around them, flying towards Sol. And Mario SAW the time and FELT it and reached out and TOOK IT. And the Chains were standing still.  


Mario knew he couldn't shatter them. Nothing could. After all, these chains were most likely used to bind a Guardian for years and years. But he could do something so they could be removed in the future.  


But he could weaken them. Not enough to break but enough that after all the time they would be weak enough to break. He could put something into them, could add a bit of this and a bit of that and change some things, not for now, but for the future. Mario closed his eyes and gripped onto the chains.  


He was the heir of time. Time was spiralling around him, protecting him. He WAS in a sense time. And he saw the time of the chain in front of him. There was something bright and shiny and then time skipped a bit, missing some beats, stumbling, before regaining its rhythm.  


And Mario opened his eyes.  


“I changed one thing.”, he said, smiling. “Let's hope it was the right thing.”  


There was the golden light again and Mario was back, Sol in front of him. Mario took his hammer and looked at the chains.  


The chains that once were unbreakable, infused with something and without an other thing. But for Marios eyes there was something different now.  


One mighty whack and the chain was broken, Sol was free.   


“Why? “, they asked. “Why this?”  


“Because I couldn't do anything else.”, Mario said. “I won't risk changing something in my past or the past of my friends. I have to little understanding what would happened in the future because of that. But I can make a change to do something that won't alter the past, only the future. And... I can't really do anything about the situation at hand for us. So I had to do something else.” He shrugged.

“The Elder Lumarian told me the story of the Guardians. I can relate, I think. So I wanted to help you find them. Because... I figured out, you have to be what is left of the Guardian of the Sun, aren't you? And the Guardian of the Moon is still alive, SOMEWHERE. And you are siblings and... like I said, I can relate...” Mario took a deep breath. “I have a brother. I would do anything for him.”   


“I know that.”  


“Yeah. But... I felt like saying it again.”, said Mario. “I think I say it not enough.”  


Sol kept looking at him.   
  
“You are a strange little person.”  


Mario shrugged.  


“You are not the first to say so.”  


“You COULD have found a way to change things. Especially regretful memories.”  


Mario shook his head.    


“That is it. It would only be for my benefit. Not for Luigi's or anybody else. I simply CAN'T make this work. And... this was more important, I think.”

  
Sol didn't say anything anymore. They just took off and left.  


And the planet mended itself around the temple. Mario was left alone in the darkness. He was still standing there for a while, breathing and silently counting seconds.  


Fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine...  


He was such a liar. 


	2. Nightmares I - The doomed Beat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There were many games and timelines that went horrible wrong. Some were lost, some were just doomed, some were scratched. This is one of those timelines. 
> 
> Just a warning: This is NOT a happy chapter for anybody, beware the taggs. 
> 
> Also: This universe is one of those that resembled our world quite a bit. (So Mario says "god" instead of "gambi") The brothers are in their late teens here.

There was a noise behind him. A creak and Mario's breath shivered. He gripped his baton but knew that it wouldn't matter. He was hurt, his right ankle most likely broken and he didn't want to think of the sticky-warm feeling at his left side. He was alone and hurt and trembling and didn't know what would happen.    


God, he just wanted for this nightmare to end.   


And then there was this noise again. This little, high-pitched laughter. The same sound that haunted his dreams, dreambubble or not.  


He was surprised when not an Imp came into his vision but an human figure.   


“Mario?”  


It was Luigi and for a moment, Mario thought that he was there to rescue him, that everything would be okay, because he had found his brother, so they could still turn this thing around. Then Luigi came into the light a bit more and Mario knew that things just got even worse.  


He looked full of horror at his brother. Or the thing that wore his brothers face. The game was long and brutal and he knew that it was only a question of time before somebody would break down or snap. But seeing Luigi standing in front of him, with his weapon out (a modification of the band he used in his rhythmic gymnastic course) and this LOOK on his face and the knowledge that Luigi wasn't here to rescue him, let him feel terror like nothing else.   


Because there was this THING in Luigi's eyes. Silver, not blue.    


He had seen it before, in different eyes and under different circumstances but he knew what it meant, he knew that this wasn't good, this was bad, so bad.   


Because these eyes meant that somebody would soon die. And there was nobody here but him and Luigi.  


Mario knew he begun to shake, something cold dripping down his heart. Silver eyes and high-pitched laughter and blood on the ground and black ink-like rain. He had seen it, seen it so many times in this game. And Luigi was standing in front of him and Mario couldn't MOVE.  


“Mario, I am sorry, but I have to do something.”  


Even Luigi's voice sounded so strange. A bit dreamy. A bit like in trance.    


Oh god, he knew. Mario knew what that meant. The whole game was terrible, glitched and full of silver eyes and blood and now these things had LUIGI. 

  
Oh God, please no. Mario hoped against hope that he was wrong. That his brother was still there, could fight, that these things would let him go.    


“L... Luigi, no! Please, you don't want to do that..:”, pleaded Mario, holding his hands up and stepping backwards, not daring to look away from his brother. The baton in his hand trembled but he didn't dare to do anything.  


His brother was still there, just behind the silver, he was sure. He was still there.

  
“But I have to.”

  
“N...No. Please...”  


They both knew how it would end. Because Mario couldn't do anything to Luigi. Even if he would fight, it wouldn't do anything to Luigi. Because Luigi would have reached him long before he could swing it. As if Mario could ever use his weapon against his brother. Not like this. _Oh please, not like this._  


“Luigi, why? Why do you want that?”, asked Mario, still desperately searching for something, ANYTHING to help.  


But he didn't. He was hurt and on the end of his rope and his brother was standing in front of him, silver eyes boring into him, a little smile on his face.   


“It's simple, Mario.”, he said, still looked a bit dreamy. “The game is unwinnable. For the game to understand that and to reboot we have to crash the system. But there was no Beat Mesa on your planet, wasn't it? I did some thinking and I think I got it now.”   


Luigi came nearer and Mario tried in vain to move through to solid wall behind him.  


“L...Luigi...”  


“You see, there has to be a Beat Mesa and it's music themed. And then I thought “well, Mario has a baton for strifespecibus.” and look at it, there is my solution. YOU are the Beat Mesa. So I just have to do this one thing and we get a new try. We make everything better, you know?”  


“But...”  


“Shhh... I promise, it wont hurt.”  


It did hurt. So much.  


“NO! No, please!”, Mario was pleading as he felt the band wrapping around his neck. There were tears when he couldn't get any air in his lungs anymore. He struggled. Trying to get the band away from his throat, trying to summon time, beats with his baton but he was out of sync now and the lack of oxygen made it so so difficult to think. 

It wasn't even fear he felt anymore (and if he was honest, there never was fear for death, only other things, he didn't want to die, not like this, not now.), but panic, terror, and deep, deep sadness. His last sounds were some strange gurgling noises until all live faded away from him.   


The hero of time fell dead to the ground.  


And that was the moment something inside Luigi shifted, something invisible leaving him with a high-pitched laughter. 

He blinked, holding his head. The silver was bleeding out of his eyes, leaving them blue was before. And leaving Luigi with the confusion that followed.  


“Urgh... M...mario? What happened...?”, he asked, looking up to find his brother.  


He saw Mario's body. His weapon still around his neck.   


“N...no.”, he gasped, to shocked to even cry, to shocked to stand. He fell on his knees, still staring at the body.  


He couldn't... couldn't he? (A part of him said yes, he could. _ He did.) _ _   
_

“No... P..please no. This... this can't be real...”  


But it was. Mario was dead and he did it. One part of him was laughing.   


_(You should be proud. He was the time player, you took out one of the mightiest player on the field all by yourself.)_ _  
_

The rest was screaming  _ (NO! NONONONONONONONONONO! You said that you would help me help my friends, you said that you show me how to do the scratch but I didn't want it like that, not like that, nononononononono!) _ _   
_

The game remade itself. Whatever had taken over Luigi's mind at least was right. Mario had been the Beat Mesa, the key to scratching their game. His body was still, the beat of the universe skipping with the death of the hero of time.    


The game remade itself and with it the world and with that all of them but a part of Luigi's broken soul just stayed at this moment and couldn't find it in itself to follow the rest out of this nightmare.

 

Much, much later, many many lifetimes later, Luigi woke from his nightmare, eyes impossible wide, shaking and sweating and something wet on his face and the look of Mario's lifeless eyes in his mind.   


He hated the memories he sometimes got. So many splitters of himself, so many games, so many things he did. So many mistakes, so many universes where everything went wrong.  


Luigi took a deep breath. A sweep with his hand took the wetness from his face away. He stood, adjusting to the darkness. He looked over to the other bed, where Mario was sleeping. He could see the slow rise and fall of Mario's chest and breathing became a bit easier, even if there was still this picture in his mind.. 

He walked slowly to a window, taking a deep breath of fresh air, hoping this would clear his head.   


His hands were bare, no glove, no blood. He was complete again. They had won the game. Everybody made it out okay. Safe and Sound. There were still prices to pay. Another deep breath.    


All in all, he sacrificed a few hours sleep gladly if it meant that all the other things would never happen.   


Mario found Luigi the next day, still standing by the window, looking outside. He would make tea for them both. Maybe they would talk about the dream. Maybe the next night, Luigi will dream of better things.

 


	3. Past Timeline - It's just fabric

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luigi talked about a timeline where they were in highschool and Mario found out about and accepted the dresses. This is this timeline.  
> Mario and Luigi are in high school, somewhere between 15 and 17 years old. But it's not the first world. They game was already stared and this was a world that resembled ours quite a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick warning: There are some slur words here. kids can be pretty cruel. Also: a bit violence and mentions of blood. again, kids can be cruel. But don't worry: Nobody will have permament damage.

**  
**

 

 

Luigi had a secret. Something he hadn't told anybody, especially his family. Even his brother, who knows practically ANYTHING about him, had no idea. And it was slowly eating him alive from the inside, being alone with this secret.

It wasn't... THAT big of a deal, Luigi hoped. Surely, there are worse secrets out there. He could do drugs or be a bully or something.

But he supposed that what he did wouldn't get a lot of acceptance. His parents were kind of old-fashioned and Mario had never given him any indication that he disagreed with his parents on things.

The thing is, Luigi always thought that girls were pretty. Okay, sure, many boys come to this conclusion at some point, but Luigi had other motives for thinking so. Girls were pretty in their own right, yes, but there was something else. He liked the clothes they were wearing, beautiful and colourful dresses and other things. It was just so... pretty.

And Luigi thought that he really, really looked nice in some of them too.

But Luigi was a boy and boys weren't supposed to like bright and pretty dresses and “girly” stuff. And he hated that. Hated, that he was SUPPOSED to like and dislike things just because some anonymous “anybody” said so. He didn't think of himself as a girl, he was a boy and liked being a boy, but he also really liked the dresses.

Daisy forgot one of her yellow summer dresses in his room, once, and he tried it on one day when he was alone. Just for fun. Just to see if it would fit him.

And he was looking at the mirror with the dress and looked at himself. The dress wasn't quite cut for someone like him. In the chest-area it hung to loose and it was a bit tight at his middle, but... it felt nice and was beautiful and Luigi could see himself being this beautiful too. And the material felt REALLY nice and it was overall a new experience.

He liked dresses, he liked looking beautiful.

But he knew that it wouldn't be good if anybody knew.

 

“ _HAH, look at him, being a GIRL.”_ _  
_

“ _He hits like a girl! What a loser!”_ _  
_

“ _Hey, Loser! Man up already!”_ _  
_

“ _What? Do you LIKE this girly stuff? Aren't you a REAL MAN?”_

 

He wished just he could TELL somebody.

He had bought a dress for himself. It was green and simple and looked easily like a shirt when folded in his closet, stuffed between his other clothes and shirts. And it was so easy getting it, even if he was nervous. He put it on, looked at himself.

Long legs, a soft stomach, small hips and flat chest, but the dress looked nice on him, put emphasis on his legs and shoulders, away from his chest and the green colour was complimenting his eyes and short hair. 

It was... a good feeling. He looked beautiful. He FELT beautiful. Sometimes he wished he could wear it outside. Maybe eating ice cream with Daisy like they did so many times, sitting on the wall near the cinema, laughing while the wind ruffled his skirt. Luigi closed his eyes, a little lost in half of a memory and half of a fantasy.

“Hey, Luigi, are you home already----”

And then Mario walked in on him.

First there was nothing, Mario just staring at Luigi and Luigi staring at Mario staring at him.

Luigi's mind was blank, all thoughts halting and stopping and maybe even his heart stopped because _No No No No No That couldn't just happen..._ _  
_

Then Mario blinked.

“Luigi, is that..”

And Luigi snapped out of it and ran. He reached the nearest door, the bathroom, and locked the door behind him, sitting on the ground and trying in vain to tell himself that everything was just a bad dream, that this didn't happened and if he said that to himself often enough, it would become true.

He heard a knocking at the door. Luigi closed his eyes, pulling his knees to his body. God, he just wished he could turn back time or disappear into the ground.

“Luigi? Hey... Please come out.”

No. No no no no no, he didn't want to.

_This was not the plan, this was not supposed to happened. Oh God, it was his secret and this secret is now out and no. No. Please wake up, please forget it, No._ _  
_

“Please. I promise, I just want to talk to you about it.”

No, you don't. And Luigi didn't want either.

“Luigi... it's... it's okay. I just want to talk about it. I don't think... any different about you, you know? I just want to understand.”

Mario couldn't, Luigi knew. He couldn't and wouldn't understand. Ever.

“... please talk to me? Are... are you trans? Because if you are, that's okay, I will help you.”

THAT made Luigi pause in his thoughts.

“No.”, he said, quietly.

“What?”, asked Mario through the door.

“I... I am not trans. I don't feel like I'm... female.”

There was a sound behind the door, the rustling of clothes and a bump. Mario was most likely sitting down in front of the door.  
  
“That's... okay. It's okay, Luigi. Then...” 

The question was in the air. Somehow it was easier now as long as Luigi couldn't see his brother. He could just imagine that he talked to the toilet.

“I... I just like them.”, he mumbled. “They make me feel... “ Beautiful, light and bright and colourful and.. “... nice.”

“You just like the dresses?”

“Yes.”

There was a silence and Luigi felt the hysteria slowly fading, leaving him with the urge to just curl up and cry. It wasn't FAIR. It wasn't and now.. now...

“Please let me in?”

And Luigi could never deny his brother something for long. He opened the door mechanically, like someone waiting for his doom.

Instead he gained an arm full of Mario, who hugged him tightly. Luigi's knees gave out and both of them sank to the ground and Luigi found himself hugging back, holding on to Mario like a drowning man. 

He only registered that he was crying when he felt a hand slowly petting his hair and Mario's voice in his ear telling him that everything was alright.

How could things ever be alright?

He must have voiced his thoughts, because Mario spoke shortly after.

“Hey, it's okay, bro... I... I've got you, okay? I don't think that this changes anything.”

Luigi slowly stilled in his arms.

“Do... do you think so?”, he asked.

“Yes. They are just dresses. Just... a bit of fabric. It would be silly to think different of you just because a bit of fabric. You are you and there is nothing weird about that.”

And just like that... he accepted it. Luigi couldn't quite believe it, but Mario ACCEPTED it, accepted him just like that.

That was not how he planned it. _(Not that he planned... well... anything about that.)_ _  
_

“W..Why? How?”

“You are my brother.”,Mario said. “And my best friend in the world. And I am not such a jerk and give you crap just because you like things that make you happy.”

Luigi just couldn't say anything anymore. He just hugged his brother harder.

It was after some time that Mario spoke again.

“Does anybody know?”

Luigi shook his head, not trusting his voice just yet.

“Do you WANT anybody else to know? Mom or Dad?”

Luigi shook his head again. Even if Mario was okay with all that, he had no doubt that their parents wouldn't approve. 

“They... they wouldn't hate you or anything.”, said Mario. “They love you.”

“I know.”, said Luigi quietly. “but... they... they wouldn't understand. And try to fix me or something.”

“You're not broken.”, said Mario, frowning. 

“I know. And... you too. But... anybody else...?”

Because boys and men didn't wear dresses, they didn't like bright and colourful things. There was a hard line between things for boys and things for girls and Luigi hated this line with all his heart.

“Okay...”

Luigi did know that Mario was not happy with the situation, but couldn't do anything about it.

“It IS really stupid.”, Mario mumbled. “Being this hung up because people can be jerks to other people about fabric..:”

“Hmm.”, said Luigi. “Why... aren't you?”

“Huh?”, honest confusion was in Mario's eyes. Luigi swallowed. 

“Why are you so okay with that?”

“It IS only fabric.”, stated Mario. “and... you KNOW that I have history with Daisy, right? She may or may not have schooled all of us on some evolution of social constructs...” He smiled a bit. “Did you think this wouldn't rub off on me after a while?”

It was impossible for Luigi not to smile and laugh a bit.

“Yeah... she... she is amazing.”

“Do you want to tell her?”

“... Maybe... you know, she... if there was one person I wanted to tell...” Luigi stopped himself, feeling ashamed. Mario looked puzzled at him until it clicked.

“Hey... it's... okay. I mean... I know that I wasn't very sensitive about this stuff in the past.”, he said. Well, Mario sure was always the manly-man of the two of them, even if he was one of the smallest boys in the school. Luigi felt a bit bad about planning to maybe tell Daisy, but not Mario, his own brother.

“But I try to, okay?”, said Mario. “I.. I try and I'll try in the future. And if... if I get things wrong just tell me, okay? I WANT for you to feel safe here.”

That he wanted Luigi feel safe around him went without saying. Luigi smiled a bit.

“Thank you.”

“So if I get things wrong, just... say so. Or... spray me with water, or something like that, okay?”

Luigi may or may not have laughed a bit at that, only a bit.

“Really?”, he asked.

“Really. I... I know I'm not the most sensitive guy and sometimes things go right above my head. I don't want to be a jerk or hurt you, but I can't promise that I won't make mistakes. Just... let me know and I promise I will keep in mind whatever you tell me.”

It meant more for Luigi than Mario ever knew.

 

 

It would have been fine if the Incident didn't happened. The Incident being Barlow Kooper, otherwise known as Bowser, who had a sort of rivalry or feud with Mario going since kindergarten, taking things a bit to far.

You see, Mario had a temper, anybody knew that and Bowser had used this temper many times to get him into trouble. Mario tended to get angry quickly and to resolve anger in fights and shouting. A little bit taunting in kindergarten ended with Mario in the time-out corner and without desserts for a week, a few jokes and a few words drawn on Mario's locker and Mario got detention for starting a fight, a little shove and a little trip and Mario got scolded for cursing in school. It was easy to get him to loose control and even if Bowser often got into trouble just as much, he pushed Marios buttons again and again.

But as for the last year, Mario learned a bit self-restrain, due to a very conceded Peach. No reaction from Mario meant no fun for Bowser, so he searched for new ways to taunt his favourite enemy.

At first, he didn't even notice anything wrong. Sure, the morning Mario came to school there was a lot more giggling and laughing going on than usually. There were people who laughed but stopped when they saw him and other who didn't look him in the eyes.

But then he couldn't find Luigi at recess (usually they met right after the first period, especially on days like these when they had the first one in separated buildings.) and Daisy and Peach came running to him with worried and pissed-off expressions.

And then somebody shouted.

“Nice fag SISTER you got there, Mario!”

And Mario, well...

His temper came back full force.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

Mario was never the biggest person, standing only at 1,60 meter, but he had some considerable strength in his body. He easily lifted the boy into the air, could see surprise and shock on his face.

“WHAT. DID. YOU. SAY?”

“I... uh...”

“Mario, you have to see that...”, said Daisy and showed Mario something on her phone.

It was a photo of Luigi in his green dress that Mario had only known existed for a few weeks now. Somebody had it photo-shopped and the worlds “FIRST GRADE FAG” and “L IS FOR LOOSER” were scribbled on it. Together with Luigi's full name and his relation to Mario. 

“Who WAS that?”, he asked, his voice shaking with rage, the boy in his hands forgotten.

“You have three guesses.”, said Peach and pointed on the user name. One that Mario knew all to well.

“Bowser.”, he all but spat out and Daisy nodded.

“Where is Luigi?”

“We will find him, okay? Daisy and I will search this building, you take the outside.”, said Peach. Mario just nodded. It was always best to just do what Peach said, she had way better plans than he had.

So he ran outside, ignoring that the bell went off to announce another period. He had better things to do. 

“Luigi? LUIGI!”

But his brother was nowhere to be found.

_(He knew he wasn't here, something told him he was at the other end of the school and probably upset. It was just a feeling and it was strange and was with Mario as long as he remembered, but maybe it was just a twin-thing? Even if they were fraternal? He didn't know, he didn't really believe in that stuff, it was just a feeling, wasn't it?_ _  
_

_There were nightmares about blood and death and loss and other things but that was all there were, nightmares._ _  
_

_There was no such thing as magic. Just a feeling, not real, not there, just a dream, just fantasy)_ _  
_

Instead he found Bowser.

He was big, easily towering over Mario (well, anybody did) and even Luigi (and well, not anybody did), all massive muscle and brawl. His bright blonde hair had been coloured orange for a while. Now it was growing out, giving him the look as if his hair was on fire. He wore the green football-jacket with his name like always (and his Number 08) and he was laughing at Mario's face.

“Awww, who do we have here. In search for your sister? Do you want to take her out to a date?”, he taunted.

“That is NOT funny.” And Luigi considered himself still male, thank you very much. If Bowser would have been so keen on using the different pronouns when Toad came out last year... 

“Oh, I find it hilarious!”, Bowser said, grinning, his friends laughing with him. “Stupid little loser. How does it feel when your own family is a messed up drag-fag?”, he laughed. “Everbody!”, he shouted. “Mario has a sissy for family!”

Mario felt his anger rising. He didn't know that was still possible.

“STOP TALKING ABOUT HIM LIKE THAT!”

“What? About what a loser he is for twirling around like a girly-girl? He should just turn in his balls already, seems to me he won't use them anytime soon. Maybe he will ask YOU to help.”

Mario felt himself going up to Bowser, anger balling his fists and clenching his teeth.

“SHUT. UP.”

“Or what?”, asked Bowser, grinning in his face, taunting him. “Will you hit me?”

There was a moment, when Mario just... transcended the red-white-hot anger to a calm, quite place where everything was clear. What to do, how to do it.

“Yes.”

And Mario kneed Bowser in the groin, took his head in his hands and smashed it on his other knee. The same knee swept under Bowsers feet and brought him down. In an instant Mario was on him and started hitting him, without any thought other than to MAKE HIM PAY. There were some punches from the boy beneath him that got him, that should have hurt, but he didn't feel anything, he just felt the impact of his fists every time they hit their mark.

It felt really, really good and it really shouldn't feel that way but at this moment, Mario just didn't care.

When he looked up after a while for a moment he could see that he had gained an audience. Pupils were standing around them, cheering or booing and Mario could even hear some “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, shouts. He looked down at Bowser, who layed in front of him, bloody lips, bloody nose, maybe a teeth missing and an eye that was beginning to swell shut. Mario felt some marks on himself too, but more like he noticed that the sky was blue. 

He stood. Glared at Bowser. Glared then at the crowd.

“SHUT UP!”, he cried and for some strange reasons, they did listen to Mario. Maybe it was his voice, maybe just the sight of him, blood still dripping from his knuckles and his whole being BURNING with anger.

“I say that just one time: If anybody makes fun of my brother or ANYBODY ELSE for being the way there are, they will answer to me. You hear me?”

A few of them nodded. The rest was just staring at him. He looked down at Bowser and kicked him for good measure. There was a small groan. And then Mario saw a teacher coming their way. Well, it has been a while since he sat in the directors office.

 

 

Mario was suspended from school for two weeks. As good as it was to punch the ever loving lights out of Bowser, in the long run it was terrible. Bowser got detention because he was bullying Luigi with the pictures, but he was still in school and Mario felt terrible letting Luigi go to school alone. 

He was a bit relieved when Daisy told him that his threat was heard and nobody touched Luigi but Mario knew that this wasn't the problem. Luigi was fast and smart, he could have handled himself in a fight or at least flee from one. The problem was the rumours, the talks behind his back and the isolation he faced because of it. Sure, there were Daisy and Peach, but they couldn't stay with him all the time.

Luigi looked close to crying when he came home, said no word, climbed into his bed and pulled the covers over himself.

Not sure what to do himself Mario looked at his brother and came over, sitting at the foot of the bed.

“Luigi?”, he asked quietly.

He got no answer.

“I am so sorry...”

“It's not your fault.”, came a mechanical-like sentence from under the covers. 

Mario cringed a bit at that. Guilt was not a thing that went away very easily. Would have and Could beens were plenty and showed so many possibilities for the better or worse. 

“I just wish I could help you...”, Mario said. “... did someone hit you?”

“No...”, Luigi said, pulling the covers down to show his face to Mario. “Nobody touched me, Mario... just...”, he looked down.

“Do they bully you otherwise?”

“No... not... like that. No name-calling or anything just... the only persons who talk normally to me are Daisy and Peach. And... there are looks and I know they are talking about me and...”, Luigi sighed. “I... I just... I don't WANT to deny what I like anymore. I just... I want to like my... my dresses and clothes and they are just clothes and it's just so frustrating!” Luigis fists balled themselves into the fabric of his covers. “And on the other hand I wish that they never knew, because it's MY thing and nobody else. And they shouldn't have any right to judge me for anything! I just... I feel... “

There WERE tears now and Mario really didn't know what to do. He just hugged his brother, feeling Luigi shake in his arms.

“I don't want to be a figurehead.”, Luigi said, snobbing. “I don't want to be in the spotlight. I don't want them staring at me or discussing me or... or anything. I just want things to go back to normal.” His voice was so small and Mario barely heard him but it was enough and god, I didn't know what to do. “I just want thing to go back where I was... just a guy. Just... just a guy and nothing more. I don't want this, I don't want them looking at me anymore...”

He so desperately wished he could take it all away. Turn back time and preventing Bowser finding out about everything. But he couldn't.

“There is nothing wrong with you.”, Mario stated. “It... will be hard, but we will go through this, okay? I... I only have a few days left of suspension. Then I will be there for you again at school.”

Luigi nodded.

“...Daisy is furious.”, he said after a while.  
  
“I'm sure she is...”

“I mean really furious. And Peach looks so... sad all the time. And... I hate it because I don't want things to be different.”

Mario winced. Peach. God, he hadn't talked to her since the incident. He was sure she was more than disappointed in him that he let his temper get the best of him. God, he messed up.

“I know.”

“And mom and dad are pretending nothing happened.”

“I know.”

“I don't want to deal with this.”

Neither of them wanted to.

There was a silence between them, each of the brothers in his own little world.

The next week Mario was allowed back on school grounds. There were rumours surrounding him and what had happened. Some people wouldn't look him in the eyes anymore. Some would go to him and tell him how brave he had been _(What for, he just beat up Bowser, he didn't do a good thing, he just got himself suspension, he did the WRONG thing, not the brave one. He felt sick whenever somebody told him so, because nobody was there for LUIGI in this whole mess.)._ _  
_

There were a few who befriended him and Luigi after a while, people with similar problems and fears.

After a while it begun to get better, it wasn't horrible anymore, not terrible, not even bad. But different, and Luigi never had had control over how and when his world changed. 

Half a year later they would play a game and their lives would change. The circle would begin anew.

There would be a new Universe. And each and everyone of the old one would be gone.

 

_Tick tock, little heroes._


End file.
